My years working in the Maple Leafs front office were never short of surprises. While many nights blend together in my memory bank, one of the games that has stuck with me was on Dec. 3, 1980, and it had nothing to do with our 4-4 tie against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Then-GM Punch Imlach called me into his office that evening and sent me on what turned out to be a wild-goose chase to find forward Mark Kirton after the game to tell him that he had been traded to the Detroit Red Wings. Imlach said that Kirton needed to get on the first flight out of Toronto the next morning, making it essential that I broke the news to him as quickly as possible after the game. He also didn’t want the media to find out.

So I looked around for Kirton in the Leafs dressing room, trying to be discreet. U

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